Reflections on virtual co-facilitation of MERIT workshops in Mongolia

I was suppose to spend the month of March this year on assignment in Mongolia, with the Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO), as part of the MERIT (Mongolia: Enhancing Resource Management through Institutional Transformation) project. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, it never happened. Fortunately, though, the assignment turned into a virtual one, getting done in June and […]

How conflict grows from “something’s not right, here” to “see you in court”

It’s crazy how something that’s a minor annoyance to us can mushroom into a full-blown dispute. Apart from my own mushrooms, I see this all the time, as a mediator. One party has a gut feeling that somethings not quite right. Before the dust has settled on that feeling, its magnified into something bigger. They […]

The CEO, The Profits, and The Conflict

The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) has been around almost as long as the nation state of Canada. The CPR was incorporated in 1881.  The last few years have been good ones, for CPR shareholders. Yet, that “success” may have come at a price, workplace culture, as last weekend’s Globe and Mail feature on the CPR […]

Adopt a multi-dimensional approach to reduce workplace bullying and harassment

Today, February 22, 2017, is anti-bullying day, aka Pink Shirt Day, in Canada. While the focus of the day is bullying in schools, bullying behaviour has no boundaries. Schoolyard bullies, unanswered, take their act forward; to their families, communities, workplaces. Bullying behaviour in the workplace A respective workplace seeks to mitigate bullying and harassment behaviours. […]

10 diverse ways the smartphone can be used for learning and applying social justice

Working in Tanzania, last November, I noticed how much the local people relied on their smartphones, and not just to scroll their social media feeds. Stoked by opportunity, and constrained by infrastructure, they are finding new ways to be resourceful with what they have. In many places in Eastern Africa, including Tanzania, the smartphone becomes […]